Featured Articles

When it comes to outdoor security lighting, it’s easy to understand why
some might think broader and brighter is always better. However, we’re
learning that such approaches can disturb wildlife in the surrounding
environment and even, potentially, harm human health. That’s why
building codes and professional lighting organizations now are calling
for designers and contractors to pay closer attention to performance
details of the exterior fixtures they specify and install.

Few lighting-fixture styles offer as much flexibility as track lighting –
once the track, itself, is installed, fixture heads can be clicked into
place wherever they’re needed – and repositioned just as easily as room
configurations change. And, as room styles change, the heads themselves
can be replaced with newer models, giving designers and owners options
recessed luminaires can never offer.

The IDEA (Industry Data Exchange Association) Industry Data Warehouse
(IDW) is now entering its third year of successful use by contractors
worldwide to streamline parts ordering and produce accurate and timely
estimates.

In my years working in commercial offices – cubicle farms, we called
them, then – the sight of a building maintenance staffer up on a ladder
to replace a burned out fluorescent tube lamp or ballast was a regular
occurrence. As commercial building owners and managers make the switch
to much longer-lived LED replacement options, lighting manufacturers
will be selling many fewer lamps, and they’re looking for new options to
make up that anticipated lost revenue.

Once upon a time, commercial office buildings were lit up like candles
24 hours a day, perhaps because installing the right control systems was
more expensive than the electricity used to power all those light
fixtures. That time has long passed though, and today’s owners are
looking for new solutions that maximize the contribution of natural
sunlight, where and when possible, and minimize the use of electric
lighting in unoccupied spaces. These combined demands are driving a
growing market for light and occupancy sensors in lighting designs both
large and small.